Meet the next Alan Sugar - a schoolboy who has already made £1k running a SWEETS business.<br /><br />Luke Scotney, 11, has a severe nut allergy and struck upon the idea after struggling to find pick and mix he could eat.<br /><br />He then launched his bespoke brand late last year - and is already making £500 a month.<br /><br />Mum Michelle Scotney, 40, helps him sort the orders at their home in Peterborough.<br /><br />Luke said: "I have a severe nut allergy, and it's been impossible to find pick n mix sweets that are safe to eat.<br /><br />"I pitched the idea to mum and we looked and couldn't find anyone doing something similar - so we launched the idea ourselves.<br /><br />"We're currently on our third restock of sweets having sold out twice before.<br /><br />"We've made about £1000 - but we are on track to make more."<br /><br />Michelle said Luke has always had business acumen and has pitched countless ideas to her over the years.<br /><br />Most were creative but unrealistic until, in October last year, he came up with Sweets4mysweets.com.<br /><br />Luke originally wanted to make pick and mix that doesn't contain traces of nuts.<br /><br />But the brand has now morphed into sweets free from other allergens as well.<br /><br />Michelle says she is committed to investing both her time and money to make it work after hearing her son's idea.<br /><br />The pair taught themselves how to build a website, ordered in stock and launched the business in December 2021.<br /><br />Michelle, who runs another business alongside, said: "Luke's ideas up to this point had always been great - just a bit out there.<br /><br />"But the nut free pick and mix business was genius and, more importantly, very feasible.<br /><br />"He's allergic to peanuts and tree nuts so he knows what its like not to be able to have pick and mix.<br /><br />"So I lent him the money and together we launched Sweets4mysweets.com.<br /><br />"The expense of using a website builder was huge, so we did some research and built our own.<br /><br />"It took about a month of trial and error - but when we found the format we wanted, we got it up and running in a day."<br /><br />Michelle and Luke found two sweet wholesalers to order from and ordered 50 different types of sweets in 3kg packets each.<br /><br />The sweets come packaged separately to avoid any allergy contamination and all are completely free from traces of nuts.<br /><br />They keep their produce in a spare room at home and recently received top marks from Peterborough Council after an inspection on health and safety.<br /><br />The duo sold out their first order before Christmas - making a profit of £500.<br /><br />They have since sold out again, profiting another £500, and are currently halfway through shifting their third restock of sweets.<br /><br />They are 50/50 partners, and the majority of the profit is currently being pumped back into the business and repaying Michelle for the start-up loan.<br /><br />Luke plans to buy warehouse space in the future so he's able to order more stock and grow his business, employ staff and eventually open his own store.<br /><br />He said: "Mum's in charge of the finances and I'm the creative one - although I'm learning all the time.<br /><br />"75% of all profit goes back into the business, 12.5% goes in my savings and 12.5% goes to repaying my mum and dad for the loan.<br /><br />"Obviously the money is great, but its just as much about providing people with sweets which they can trust and enjoy.<br /><br />"Me and Mum work great as a team and so far there's been no hiccups - but we're always prepared for the future.<br /><br />"It doesn't matter I'm young now, I plan to expand this business right through to adulthood - I can't wait."<br /><br />Michelle added that Luke is putting some of his money into silver - as a way of making more cash.<br /><br />She said: "Luke invests in silver coins from a website, as they grow in value.<br /><br />"Silver is starting to become a rare commodity. It's used in iPhones and in cars, so it's going up in value.<br /><br />"The coins themselves weigh around an ounce and come in sets. They are are released constantly and differ in rarity."
